Improvement in metallic cans



; VIIIJIIIIIIIIIIIIII G. H. '& J. H. PERKINS.

METALLIC CANS.

Patented Feb. 27,1877.

N. PETERS, FHOTO LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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GEORGE H. PERKINS AND JAMES H. PERKINS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., ASSIGNORSOF PART THEIR RIGHT TO JOSEPH LE GOMTE, OF NEW YORK CITY, AND THE LEOOMTE AND PERKINS MAN UFAGTURING COMPANY,

(LIMITED,) OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT lN M ETALLIC CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters PatentNo. 187.902, dated February27, 1877; application filed April 20, 1876.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that We, JAMES H. PERKINS and GEORGEH. PERKINS, both of thecity and county of Philadelphia, in th'eState of Pennsylvania, havejointly invented a new and useful Improvement in Metallic Cans, of whichthe following specification-is-hereby declared by us to be a full,clear, and precise description, and sufficient to enable others skilledin the art to which our improvement appertains to comprehend andconstruct it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whichform part of this specification, and of which all the figures arepartial central sectional elevations of various forms of cans embodyingour invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherever used.

Our invention relates to the class of hermeticallysealed cans forpaints, preserves, and the like; and has for its object'acheaplyconstructedcan, which, although sealed by means of solder, canyet be easily opened without section to which end it consists of asheet-metal can, the upper chine of whose body is provided with orformed into a yielding or compressiblebevel, plain or in the form of acorrugation opening out, alone or in combination with a circumferentialswelling below said bevel, and whose cover rests upon said yieldingbevel, is united by Idesignedlyfrangible solder to the body proper' o' fthe can below the bevel, or to the summit'of the said swelling when thelatter is employed, to the end that blows properly applied" to -thecover will transmit the force so exerted direct upon the yieldingportions, so as to compress such yielding portions, and thereby permitthe force to be transmitted to, and thereby act direct against, thefrangible joint, to rupture the solder forming it, and will furtherserve, by driving the beveled or corrugated chine inward, to bulge theexternal swelling, when the same is employed, out, and thereby aid, bythe radial bulging, to crack the solder along the summit of theswelling, all substantially as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, A represents the body of a can, struck up or otherwiseconstructed by any usual method, and in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive,slightly beveled inward around its entire chine, as indicated by B. O isa common flanged cover,fitting over the body, the flange being eitherstraight or curved in section, and of sufficient depth to lap completelyacross the bevel on the body, and to come into close circumferentialcontact with the body upon a line below the bevel, around which linefrangible solder is applied to secure the cover.

By consulting the figures, above referred to, of the drawing,it will beseen that an annular and approximately right angularly or sphericallytriangular space is left between and formed by the inner angularcircumferenceof the flanged cover, and the exterior of the beveledsurface formed upon the body.

When it is desired to open the can, a sharp blow, obliquely directedagainst the outer edge of the cover, acts upon the two rightangled sidesof the triangular portions bounding the annular space, to drive suchsides out of right and into obtuse angle, one of which sides, being thetop of the cover, exerts resistance to expansion; the flange, therefore,is forced sharply down, almostinstantly cracking the line of solder thatalone opposes its descent. Successive blows at points around thecircumference of the cover, crackthe solder, and enable the removal ofthe cover.

It will be readily comprehended that as the cover is struck the beveledchine is slightly bent or compressed inward, permitting by its ownbending a slight bending and descent to the outer circumference of thecover, and thereby the readier downward expansion of the flange, theannular space being necessary to permit of such bending andexpansion,and to allow the right-angular portion of the cover to assumeits more obtuse angle. In Fig. 1 the bevel is a simple internal one, andthe flange right angular. In Fig. 2 the flange of the cover is somewhatbooked in section, as indicated by E, and a swelling or corrugation, D,is worked into the body immediately below the bevel, the contactlinebeing between the summit of the corrugation and the extreme bottom edgeof the flange. Blows in this structure not only tend to flatten out theangular edge of the cover, but, as the top surface of the cover forcesthe beveled chine inward, the tendency is to bulge the corrugation 1)out, thus materially aiding to crack the solder-seam.

This form has also the advantage of permitting the can, when filled, tobe turned upside down before soldering, for the readier application ofthe soldering-iron, and this for the reason that the hooked conformationof the cover-flange generates in it sufiicient elasticity orcompressing-force to enable it to cling tightly to the body, whenexpanded, by being pressed up to or upon the summit of the corrugation.As modified forms, however, the right-angular cover shown in Fig. 1 maybe applied to the body, shown in Fig. 2, forming Fig. 3, while thehooked cover of Fig. 2 may be applied to the body of Fig. 1, formingFig. 4, without altering in any manner the cardinal principles of ourinvention, as hereinbefore set forth.

In all these figures the action of parts in opening is substantially thesame.

The essence, however, of our invention, consisting, as before set forth,in such structure of the chine or top body of the can as will insure itsyielding when force is exerted against the cover, to the end that theflange may be driven down so as to compress the yielding portions andbreak the line of solder, it will readily be comprehended that anystructure, adaptation, or relative juxtaposition of parts subservingsuch end will but effectuate our invention.

In Fig. 5 the beveling assumes the form of an internal corrugation, F,constituting a strictly compressible chine, which flattens down uponitself in opening, as shown in Fig. 6, and has the advantage of leavinga very smooth surface for the brush to be drawn against.

In Figs. 7 and 8, which are mere modifications of Fig. 2, the rim of thebevel is edged, so as to render it smooth for the brush.

The advantages are: The extreme simplicity of the can, and the cheapnesswith which it can be made; the close original contact of the parts to beunited by solder, ali'ording no crevices for the irregular distributionof the solder; facility of opening; and the evenness of both edges afteropening.

We do not claim acan havingits parts, which are to be separated to openthe can, joined by solder, and having such. parts intentionallyconstructed and-arranged tomove toward each other upon the applicationto either of such parts of force properly directed and sufiicient tobreak the solder; nor yet do we claim a sheetmetal can, the top of whichis united to the body by-solder, designedlyof such frangibility as toyield to direct violence, :and provided with an interspace between theupper :ehine and the inner surface of the cover, xwhich permits thecover and body to approach each other when suflicient force is appliedto either to part the solder; nor, finally, do we claim, in a sheetmetalcan, the cover constructed with the rim arranged at an oblique angle orcurve to the sides of the can, the said rim being united to the saidsides by a frangible seam or joint, andthere being an interspace betweenthe upper chine of the body and the inner side of the top of the can.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States 1. A can provided with a yielding orcom pressible chine or body, and adapted for ready opening by force orblows against the cover, substantially in the manner shown anddescribed.

2. A sheet-metal can, the upper chine of whose body is provided with orformed into a yielding or compressible bevel, B, and whose cover restsupon said yielding bevel, and is united to the body below thesarne byfrangible solder, to the end that blows properly applied to the coverwill compress the yielding portions, and permit the descent of thecover, so as to rupture its frangible joint, substantially as described.

3. A sheet-metal can, the upper chine of whose body is provided with orformed into a yielding or compressible bevel, B, in combination with anexterior circumferential swelling, D, and whose cover rests upon saidyielding bevel B, and is united upon the summit of the swelling D to thebody by frangible solder, to the end that blows properly applied to thecover will compress the yielding portions of the body, permit thedescent of the cover to rupture its frangible joint, and will furtherbulge the corrugation D to aid in said rupture, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence oftwo witnesses.

GEO. H. PERKINS. 8- JAMES H. PERKINS. L. s. Witnesses:

H. E. PERKINS, S. GARDNER.

